The driving in Yucatan remains pretty boring, not much to see and straight stretches of road, so we made a welcome stop en route at Muyil ruins, just within the Sian Ka’an Biosphere, some 1.3m acres of protected tropical forest, mangrove swamp and marine environment. The Castillo would have been used as a lighthouse for Mayan hunters in canoes returning across the lagoon, and is decorated with a pair of herons keeping watch over the jungle.
We arrived in Tulum a bit later, and had quite a challenge finding Posada 2 Amigos, finally locating it a bit further from the centre of town than expected, where the roads are very rough and full of potholes. Once through the gate, the Posada is fine and we are now happily settled into our poolside room, and while the staff are friendly, the language barrier seems the biggest here.
So Tulum has three parts, the Pueblo or town either side of the highway, the ruins, just north of the town, and the beach, 3.5kms down the beach road and running parallel with the highway.
Tulum ruins are set within fortified walls, on cliffs 15m above the turquoise Caribbean. They may not be architecturally the most exciting, but they certainly have location. They attract huge numbers of tourists as there are miles of resorts nearby.
Our last ruin to visit was Coba which is quite spread out, and while we walked, many people rented a bike or a triciclo.
There was a ball court with its rings remaining and also a 3D skull set into the centre of the court.
There was also had one of the tallest pyramids, Nohoch Mul at 42m which we climbed, as did many others …
We also stopped at Grand Cenote for a cool down on the way back to Tulum, due to its location the most expensive we’ve visited, and I still couldn’t tempt Chris in.
However, on the last day he did come snorkelling with me at Yal-ku lagoon in Akumal. We hardly had to swim at all, just float on the surface and watch the fish, a huge shoal of small silver ones, black and yellow striped ones, large grey ones and small blue ones …
There were pelicans and herons too, treating the lagoon like a snack bar whenever they got peckish!
Each afternoon, we picked a different beach club for lunch and some sun …
The first night here, I had to buy a hat as I had lost mine, and the man in the shop recommended Don Cafeto and we ate here three times, enjoying the food and the cool tunes played by the band.
We’ve had a great time, driving around 3000 kms in 31 days with more topes than you can imagine and have also lost count of the rather delicious margaritas!
We have seen everything we had hoped to see on the Yucatan Peninsular … including 4 beaches, 9 cenotes, 15 ruins, a football match and enough refried beans to last a lifetime! Everyone has been friendly and fortunately very patient with our poor Spanish.
And now amigos, having seen the whole Mexican Enchilada, it’s time to return home so thanks for sticking with the blog, it’s been great having you along!
Hasta la vista!
It was a long straight road to get here, punctuated by a few towns, several topes and the odd pothole. Just over five hours later we reached El Placer, miles from anywhere, just a small collection of beach houses, one of which is Mayan Beach Garden. This whole area was affected by Hurricane Dean in August 2007, the most powerful Atlantic storm to hit land since 1988 with winds in excess of 165 miles per hour. There was a huge amount of damage, but you wouldn’t know it now. We have another lovely room, with coconut palms outside our windows and a sea view. There are some lovely mosaics done by Marcia all over the property which give it real character…
We drove to Santa Elena today, past small villages, derelict henequen plantations and ruins at Oxkintok where we stopped to stretch our legs. Driving through small villages some people are still living in Mayan huts with walls made from a lattice of sticks, stuck together with mud and grass, with a roof made from palm fronds.
The problem is you get lulled into a bit of a trance, so after a trip to the market we are now accompanied by Trova and Salsa to keep the driver awake! This is handy, as on the approach to each town and village there Iare usually slow down signs and topes signs for the speed humps and some are even painted, but others come completely without sign or warning and can remove the undercarriage of your car instantly!
There was a quadrangle with impressively decorated facades, a carving of a feathered rattlesnake with a warrior’s head emerging from its jaws …
The central section shows an intact regal headdress adorning the head of a seated person now missing, which also featured in Catherwood’s prints, and there seems little difference today.
We have come to the beach on the opposite side of the Yucatan Peninsular, washed by the warm Gulf of Mexico, for a couple of days relaxation. We are staying in Casita Flora at Casa de la Celeste Vida in the quiet fishing village of Celestun, with the beach just steps away, in fact the nicest way back from town … having bought groceries for lunch.
Celestun is quite pink … at every turn there seems to be pink going on!
Also, watching the sunset, but it sneaks up quite fast and the first couple of days we were a bit late …
The Mayans built raised paved roads called sacbeob, or white ways, as they were covered in limestone stucco, so they were easier to see at night when travel was cooler. One started in Puerto Morelos, went through Izamal then Ake and ended at Merida, 13m wide and some 300km, with parts remaining. We took the highway however, and stopped at Ake, where there are three buildings surrounding the main plaza, and lots of outer ruins too. The Building of Columns is the most impressive, and would probably have had a roof, and we wandered around almost on our own in the sunshine taking pictures.
Paseo de Montejo is an elegant boulevard lined with magnificent mansions including Casa Montes Molina, bought in 1915, still owned by the family and kept as a museum of that era, a showcase for European style.
I had fish rubbed with a achiote, a local spice paste with orange annatto seeds, garlic and cloves, then baked in banana leaves, so good I had it twice!
We had dinner as Casa Frida afterwards, which deserves a mention for the bright and cheery decor, another homage to Frida Kahlo, together with cosy courtyard, the fabulous food, possibly our best meal yet … and Coco. I had a poblano chile stuffed with ground beef, apple, pear and plantain covered with a cream and walnut sauce, and Chris had tortillas stuffed with cheese and covered with delicious mole – the
We were just approaching Izamal and the heavens opened with thunder and lightning to boot. By the time we arrived the rain had stopped, and once we had checked in to Hotel Macanche, the sun was out again. The hotel stands in a tropical garden, complete with cenote style pool and our jungle room is very pretty, in a blue bungalow in the gardens with a hammock.
Franciscans decided to make their religious centre here in 1552, so lopped off the top of a pyramid and built the Convento de San Antonio de Padua on top. It has become an important place of pilgrimage in Yucatan after several presumed miracles and even Pope John Paul II gave the Virgin a silver crown when he visited.
There are many haciendas dotted round the countryside, built when the Spanish took on vast landholdings. The heyday was the end of the 19th century when the henequen boom brought great wealth. Henequen is a type of agave cactus that produces fibres that can be made into rope, known in England as sisal after the port in the Yucatan in was shipped from. The market for ‘green gold’ collapsed in the 1940’s with the advent of nylon, and most haciendas are either ruins or have been converted into hotels. We visited Hacienda Sotuta de Peon, which was bought as a ruin 1985, but is now a living museum, with a restored hacienda 1880’s style …
We drove about an hour, and stopped at the Grutas de Balankanche, caverns leading to an underground altar to the rain god Chac, where a huge rock formation resembling a ceiba tree or Mayan tree of life is surrounded by original Mayan offerings in pots.
We can certainly see why 1.2 million tourists visit each year and thought the site was very well organised, although we still had to run the gauntlet of the souvenir sellers on our way out!
Finally a quick visit to Cenote Yokdzonot for lunch and a swim revitalised us. What particularly made us want to visit here is that the Cenote was developed by the community as a sustainable project to provide employment to the village. Please put it on your visit list as it was a joy to visit.
Apparently the best thing about today is the 5-1 score (Liverpool beat Arsenal) but I’m sure there will be other treats in store! We were heading to Valladolid, also known as the Sultaness of the East for her importance in trade in the peninsular, via the toll road, some 140km of almost straight Romanesque road with only a handful of other vehicles, and a great coffee stop halfway. It is also famed for an anti-hacendado statement from Mayan rebels which was the chispa or spark which ignited the 1910 revolution. We had lunch in Las Campanas, named for the bells from an old temple that still hang from the ceiling. Never one to shy from a challenge, in true Popeye style, Chris opted for the Agua de Chaya (spinach water) which fortunately came out more like a sweetened spinach smoothie rather than the cooking water from yesterday’s veg, while I ducked the challenge and had iced tea. Chris followed on with a chip butty Mexican style … garlic and cheese potatoes in tortillas!
We wandered into a couple of the old colonial buildings which now house museums and restaurants …
The image was taken up by Diego Rivera in his mural Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central showing Catrina together with famous people from Mexican history, and she has become a popular modern icon of the Day of the Dead.
We flew into Cancun but didn’t stay to look round, immediately heading south past the all inclusive resort hotels to make our first stop at Puerto Morelos, a fishing village with a few small hotels and apartment blocks attracting visitors who like the quiet life. We are staying at the Amar Inn, family run by Luis and Miguel with rooms and cabanas set in a small but beautifully kept garden. Our room is up a flight of rickety looking spiral stairs and is large and airy with a sea view.
We wanted to escape from the British winter to warmer climes, but after the liver abscess Chris brought back from India and the broken ankle I brought back from Utah, we also wanted somewhere which hopefully wouldn’t endanger our health!
Off Travelling Together 